by Kevin Pamba
Air Niugini is a disgrace
to PNG
Abrupt cancellation of flights and
delays are a norm to the public who use Air Niugini.
As cancellations and delays are so rampant, everyone using Air
Niugini (there is no competition in this sector) have to factor
these into their travel plans. And this is not a joke.
It seems the days when flights are on schedule are gone.
Air Niugini has become so unreliable in recent weeks that the
grassroots travellers must have sufficient money (preferably in
cash) to avoid getting into trouble and stranded when Air
Niugini suddenly cancels a flight without prior notice to say
3.30am at Jackson Airport in Port Moresby.
The cash can also be used to bribe, yes bribe, one’s way into
getting a seat confirmed when on wait list or to have baggage
checked in even if it is above the 16kg allowable weight per
passenger.
If one is lucky, he or she will get a reliable Air Niugini staff
that will help out or arrange for a courtesy service to rest at
a hotel under the airline’s expense when a flight is cancelled.
If you don’t ask, they are likely to ignore you.
You can no longer expect to be at work on time on Monday
morning, say in Madang, after being in Port Moresby for the
weekend.
When you have an Air Niugini ticket that says you will board a
flight to Madang at 5.45am on Monday from Port Moresby, and you
think you will be on time for work after the one-hour flight on
a F100, don’t bet on it.
Please do factor in and expect abrupt cancellations and delays
as happened on Monday.
As it monopolises the major routes in the country, the airline
appears unperturbed by the damage it is causing to the economy
and the travelling public.
What is happening now is unacceptable.
It is affecting people across the spectrum in private and public
sectors and the community at large.
People are spending their hard-earned money on airline tickets,
cargo services on one of the world’s most expensive airfare
structure with some of the world’s most strict conditions
attached
to them, and they deserve better than what they are being put
through now.
Those of us who have travelled around the world on some of the
overseas airlines can compare that services of Air Niugini and
frankly say that apart from the clean safety record, PNG’s
national flag carrier continues be one of the most expensive and
unreliable airlines around.
Former Air Niugini pilot, Capt James Makop made some startling
observations of one aspect of the national airline’s management
style in a Letter to the Editor published by The National
yesterday.
Capt Makop, who is now flying a Boeing 747-400 for a Chinese
airliner, was concerned with the lack of timely replacement of
leased aircraft by Air Niugini.
“It is absolutely amazing how the management of Air Niugini,
from past to present, have appeared oblivious to the need to
arrange timely aircraft replacement for incumbent leased
aircraft prior to the expiry pf the Boeing 767 aircraft,” he
wrote.
“For the management not to address the obvious, denotes a level
of incompetence that is all the more intolerable given that such
situations occurred on numerous occasions in the past.
“The public needs to be aware that the procurement of suitable
replacement aircraft takes time given that airplanes are not
like cars in a sales yard just waiting for clients to come along
and buy them.”
Capt Makop goes on to say that “it is high time knowledgeable
people in the industry are given the rein of running the airline
both at the management and at board level.
“The total breakdown today speaks volume of the level of sheer
incompetence and the shareholders, who happen to be the
travelling public, should not have to put up with this affront,”
Capt Makop wrote.
One can only hope there is no one out there who is planning to
organise the public for a class action against Air Niugini for
damages and losses caused by the abrupt cancellation and
rescheduling of flights nationwide at present.
